NATO FMs to show steadfast commitment to collective defense

BRUSSELS, April 1 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday highlighted so-called steadfast commitment to collective defense at the start of the two-day meeting of NATO ministers of foreign affairs.

"We will take decisions on which cooperation with Russia is still appropriate. Because through its actions, Russia has undermined the principles on which our partnership is built, and has breached its own international commitments. So we cannot go on doing business as usual," he said.

Talks will focus on increasing support for Ukraine and on the consequences of "Russia's illegal military actions against Ukraine for NATO-Russia relations."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia will also take part in a session of the NATO-Ukraine Commission. "We will agree on ways to support our partner Ukraine, with political and practical measures within the framework of our long-standing partnership," said Rasmussen.

In March, Crimean leaders signed a treaty with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the peninsula's accession to Russia. Ukraine does not accept Crimea's integration into Russia, considering it an "attempt to annex the Ukrainian territory."